Breakdown of Elle est rentrée à pied de l’aéroport, puis elle s’est couchée avec ses gants dans son sac.
elle
she
avec
with
dans
in
le sac
the bag
de
from
se
oneself
ses
her
son
her
puis
then
à pied
on foot
se coucher
to go to bed
le gant
the glove
l'aéroport
the airport
rentrer
to come back
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Questions & Answers about Elle est rentrée à pied de l’aéroport, puis elle s’est couchée avec ses gants dans son sac.
Why is it est rentrée and not a rentré?
- In the intransitive sense “to return (home/inside),” rentrer forms the passé composé with être: Elle est rentrée.
- With a direct object, rentrer is transitive and takes avoir: Elle a rentré la voiture (“She brought the car in”).
- Using être also triggers participle agreement with the subject (see next question).
Why do we see an extra -e in rentrée and couchée?
- Past participles agree in gender and number with the subject when:
- The verb is one of the “movement/state change” verbs that take être (here, rentrer).
- The verb is reflexive/pronominal (here, se coucher).
- Hence feminine singular: rentrée, couchée. Masculine singular: rentré, couché; feminine plural: rentrées, couchées, etc.
Why use se coucher instead of coucher?
- Se coucher means “to go to bed/lie down” (subject does it to themself): Elle s’est couchée.
- Coucher without se is transitive: “to lay (someone/something) down,” and colloquially “to sleep with.” So Elle a couché changes the meaning.
Why is it à pied and not something like en pied or sur pied?
- The idiom is fixed: travel “on foot” = à pied.
- Transport prepositions:
- en: enclosed/vehicle (en voiture, en bus, en train).
- à: things you straddle or are “on” (à vélo, à moto, à cheval) and à pied.
- Sur pied means “on (one’s) feet/up and about,” not a transport mode.
Why de l’aéroport here? Could it be à l’aéroport?
- de l’aéroport marks origin (“from the airport”), which fits returning.
- à l’aéroport would mark destination (“to the airport”).
- You’ll also hear depuis l’aéroport when emphasizing the starting point or duration.
Can I say Elle est rentrée de l’aéroport à pied instead of … rentrée à pied de l’aéroport?
- Yes. Both orders are idiomatic.
- à pied (manner) commonly goes right after the verb, but placing the origin first is also fine and can slightly shift the emphasis.
What’s the difference between rentrer, revenir, retourner, and arriver?
- rentrer: go/come back in, often “back home” or “back inside.”
- revenir: come back to the speaker’s/reference point.
- retourner: go back (usually to a place where the speaker isn’t).
- arriver: arrive (reach a destination), not necessarily “back.”
Is puis different from ensuite or après?
- puis and ensuite both mean “then/next.” Ensuite is a bit more conversational; puis can feel a touch more formal/written.
- après needs something after it: après ça, après quoi, or après
- noun/verb phrase (e.g., Après, elle s’est couchée is okay in speech; in writing, prefer Ensuite/Puis, elle…).
Why ses gants but son sac (not sa sac)?
- French possessives agree with the possessed noun, not the owner.
- Plural noun → ses (e.g., ses gants).
- Masculine singular noun → son (e.g., son sac).
- Feminine singular noun → sa (e.g., sa valise).
- Note: For euphony, feminine nouns starting with a vowel use son (e.g., son amie), but sac is masculine anyway.
Should à pied be singular or plural? Is à pieds ever right?
- It’s fixed as singular: à pied.
- à pieds is considered a mistake in standard usage.
Why does the participle agree in Elle s’est couchée? Don’t reflexive verbs sometimes not agree?
- With reflexive verbs, agreement depends on whether se is a direct object.
- If se is the direct object (as with se coucher, no other direct object), the participle agrees: Elle s’est couchée.
- If there’s another direct object after the verb (e.g., Elle s’est lavé les mains), no agreement with the subject because les mains is the direct object; thus lavé (no -e).
Could I use dormir or s’endormir instead of se coucher?
- se coucher: to go to bed/lie down.
- s’endormir: to fall asleep.
- dormir: to sleep.
- So you’d typically go se coucher, then s’endormir, then dormir.
Is avec ses gants dans son sac natural? What exactly does it mean?
- Yes, avec + noun + prepositional phrase is a common way to state accompanying circumstances.
- Here it means “with her gloves in her bag” (i.e., the gloves were in her bag as she went to bed).
- Alternatives: Elle s’est couchée; ses gants étaient dans son sac. / … en ayant ses gants dans son sac.
Why is it l’aéroport and not le aéroport?
- aéroport is masculine (le aéroport), but French elides le/la to l’ before a vowel sound: l’aéroport.
- The accent is part of the word: aéroport.
Do you need the comma before puis?
- It’s optional and stylistic. Many writers place a comma before puis when it separates two clauses, as here, but it’s not mandatory.
Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?
- rentrée: the en is a nasal sound; final -ée is “ay.”
- gants: final -ts are silent; sounds like “gan.”
- pied: final -d silent; “pyeh.”
- sac: pronounced “sak.”
- aéroport: stress on the last syllable in French; say “a-é-ro-port,” with the initial aé clearly articulated.